Train line end valve



n 1 E. B. MOORE ETAL 2,839,082

TRAIN LINE END VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 9, 1956 m m E MRM m ON 2 W M m. M H D W0 m E ML 4/ EE June 17, 1958 E. B. MOORE ET AL2,839,082

TRAIN LINE END VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1956 INVENTORS.

United States Patent 2,839,082 Patented June 17, 1958 ice TRAIN LINE ENDVALVE Edward B. Moore, La Grange Park, and Elwood H.

Stonich, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Vapor Heating Corporation, Chicago,111., a corporation of Delaware Application March 9, 1956, SerialNmsmass 8 Claims. (Cl. 137-43015 The present invention relates to steamtrain line end valves for steam car heating systems. Car heating systemsof the type to which the present end valve is applicable have associatedtherewith a train line in the form of a supply pipe which extends theentire length of the train. steam couplers between adjacent cars and theindividual sections have branch steam connections leading to the heatingpipes within the respective cars. Each end of the train line section ofeach car is provided with an end valve of the type to which the presentinvention relates and the various valves between adjacent cars aremaintained open when the cars are connected in a train with the steamcouplings in place. Only the valve at the rear end of the train will beclosed.

Inasmuch as an appreciable amount of condensation will take place in theline, it is desirable to allow this condensation to escape to theatmosphere at the rear end of the train. If no provision is made for theescape of such condensation, during cold weather there is danger of itsfreezing with its attendant serious trouble. However, if the steampressure is maintained in the line throughout its entire length and therearmost end valve vis allowed to bleed a small amount of steamcontinuously through the rear hose coupling, this trouble is avoided.The present train line end valve makes provision for such bleeding ofsteam from the rear hose coupling, utilizing a novel form of mechanismfor accomplishing this purpose.

In the type of end valve now in general use, a lever is pivoted at oneend within the valve casing and has its free end connected through alinkage system to the free end of a crank arm carried on a transverserock shaft which overlies the main valve element. This latter element isconnected to a medial region of the lever so that manipulation of therock shaft may control the opening and closing movements of the valve.

The principal object of the present invention is to improve the leverand linkage mechanism of such valves in such a manner that a morepowerful leverage action upon the valve than has'heretofore beenpossible is attained during the initial opening movements of the valveso that initial cracking of the mating valve surfaces may beaccomplished by the use of manual force and with but very littleexertion on the part of the trainman or other operator of the valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve of the characterbriefly outlined above wherein the circular valve plate ordinarilyassociated with valves of this type is pivotally connected to thelifting lever therefor by-a connection which not only is closer to thepivoted end of the lever but also is offset radially from the center ofthe valve plate, thus materially contributing toward a morepowerfulleverage action but also reducing the force necessary to crackthe valve at any given head of-steam Yet another object, in a valve ofthis sort, is to provide a novel means for shortening the effectivelength of the The train line sections are connected together by 2 rockshaft crank arm without appreciably diminishing its stroke sothat a morepowerful leverage will be exerted on the main valve member to open thesame while preserving the full amplitude of movement of the liftinglever.

A similar and related object is to provide a valve constructionincluding main and bleeder valve assemblies wherein the bleeder portprovided in the main valve is disposed substantially centrally of themain valve plate and which, although so disposed, will'not interferewith the linkage or other mechanism which operates the valve.

Another object is to provide a valve construction of this type whereinthe powerful leverage action obtained at the outset when the valve isbeing opened is subsequently followed by a less powerful but morerapidly operating leverage action which serves to quickly move the mainvalve member away from its seat and to its final wide open position;

A further object is to provide a valve mechanism of this sort whereinmovement of the main valve element from its fully closed position to itsfully open position is attained with a minimum amount of turningmovement of the rock shaft and consequently of the operating handlewhich controls the operation of the valve.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this timeenumerated, will become more readily apparent as the followingdescription ensues.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of thisspecification, a preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken substantially centrally andhorizontally through a train line end valve constructed in accordancewith the principles of the present invention and showing the same in itsclosed position.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of Fig.1.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are respective sectional views similar to Fig. 2showing the valve in progressive stages of opening.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of Fig.2, and

Fig. 7 is a schematic view, geometrical in its representation,illustrating certain principles of leverage employed in connection withthe present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to Fig. 1, theend of a steam train pipe is shown at 1'9, it being understood that thispipe line will be supported in the usual manner beneath a railway car.The casing 11 of the train line end valve is formed with a rearextension 12 which is internally threaded as at 13 to receive thethreaded end of the pipe 10, the valve being supported from this latterpipe. The casing 11 is also provided with a downwardly projectingextension 14 (see also Fig. 2) which is internally threaded as at 15 toreceive the end of a flexible pipe coupling (not shown) by means ofwhich the valve casing may be connected to the train line section of anadjacent car. The casing 11 encloses the main steam chamber 16 intowhich steam flows through the inlet port 17 provided in the extension 12and from which steam flows through an outletport 18 provided in theextension 14.

The casing 11 in the vicinity of the outlet port 18 is provided with aninternal web 20 internally threaded as at 21 for the purpose ofreceiving therein a removable main valve seat 22 which is of ring-likedesign and which is provided with a lapped flat seat surface 23 (seealso Fig. 5) designed for cooperation with a similarly lapped flatsurface 24 of a main valve member or plate 25 movably supported withinthe casing 11 in a manner that will be described presently.

The valve member 25 is provided with a relatively small central steampassage 26 at the upper end of which bleeder valve seat 28.

there is formed an auxiliary valve seat 27 designed for cooperation witha conical valve surface 28 provided on a valve element 39 (see also Fig.6) threadedly received as at 31 on the lower reduced end 32 of a valvestem 33 slidably supported in a cylindrical bore 34 provided in anoverlying extension 35 integrally formed with the valve plate 25.

The passage 26 provided in the valve plate consti- V tutes a bleederpassage whereby steam pressure on-the opposite sides of the valve plate25 when the latter is closed upon the seat 23 may be at least partiallyequalized to facilitate opening of the valve assembly. With the valvemember 25 closed upon the seat 23 as shown in Fig. 2, the head of steamprovided in the valve chamber 16 will serve to normally maintain thebleeder valve assembly including the valve element 3%? closed upon theMeans are provided whereby immediately prior to the opening movement ofthe valve member 25, the bleeder valve assembly may be lifted fromitsseat and, toward this end, mechanism which will be describedsubsequently is associated with the main valve liftinginstrumentalities. This valve lifting mechanism may also be employedduring adverse cold Weather conditions to maintain the valve element 3%)elevated from its seat 28 to allow a small amount of steam to bleed fromthe chamber 16 and through the rearmost hose coupling to carry with itany condensate which may have collected in the exposed valve.

The overlying extension which slidably supports the bleeder valveassembly is integrally formed on a stem 33.

vertically projecting lug or pillar 40 in which there is provided in ayoke member 44 one end of which is pivotally supported on a retainingpin 45 threadedly received as at 46 in a wall of the casing 11 at oneend and supported at itsother end in a socket or recess 47 provided forit in the casing 11. The yoke 44 extends forwardly in the chamber '16and has its free end pivotally con nected by means of a retaining pin'48to a'bifurcated end of a short link St), the other end of the link beingpivoted bymeansof a retaining pin 51 to the bifurcated endof a secondlink 52. The other end of the link'52 is also bifurcated and is'pivotally connected by means of a retaining pin 53 to the free end of arelatively short crank arm 54 integrally formed on a rockshaft 55 ofspecial design and which rock shaft embodies certain novel fea- The rock"shaft 55 extends transversely throughthe steam chamber 16 andis'journaled in the opposite side tures which constitute a part of thepresent invention as will be set'forth in detail subsequently.

walls of the casing 11. At one end the shaft 55 is formed tight jointabout the rock shaft 551 The free projecting end 63 of the rock shaft 55is squared as at 64 or is otherwise of non-circular cross section toaccommodate a suitable operating lever 65 by means. of which the rockshaft may be manipulated. f

The rock shaft 55 is disposed above the main valve plate 25 generally toone side thereof and the medial regions of the shaft within the chamber16 is formed.

with an offset portion 66 which is slightly-removed from the pivotalaxis a--a of the shaft as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The crank arnr54 iscast integrally or is otherwise formed on the offset portion 66substantially centrally thereof and extends radially "outwardlytherefrom in the direction of the pivotal axis of the shaft and isslightly greater in length than the distance existing be 4'- tween theaxis of the ofiset portion 66 and the pivotal axis aa in order thatcertain principles of. leverage as,-v sociated with the present valvelinkage mechanism may be effectively carried out in a manner that willbe described presently.

The double ended bifurcated link 52 is formed with a transverse bridgeor crown portion 70 presenting an upwardly facing depression 71 designedfor cooperation with the lower end of a1 spring-pressed plunger 72mounted in a closure plug assembly 73 threadedly received in an opening74 provided in the casing 11. The lower end of the plunger 72 is roundedand 'is designed for locking cooperation with the depression 71 providedin the crown portion 70 of the link 52 when the valve is in its openposition as shown in Fig. 5.

The previously mentioned means for lifting or opening the bleeder valveassembly 30, 32 from its seat 27 on the circular valve plate 25comprises a pair of lifting fingers 75 formed on the side arms of theyoke member 44 and which project inwardly of, the opening 43 in the yokemember in opposed relationship and underlie the shoulder 76 afforded bythe reduced end 32 of the valve It will be seen therefore that aninitial movement of the elongated yoke member 44 from its'lowe'rmostposition illustrated in Fig. 2, prior to movement of the valve plate 25away from its seat 23, will cause the opposed fingers 75 to engage theshoulder 76 and elevate the valve stem 33 to thus lift the valve element30 from its seat 27.

In the operation of the train line end valve, when the valve is closedthe various operative parts thereof will assume the positions showninFig; 2 whereinthe circular valve plate 25 is seatedupon the valve seat22 with the operating lever being elevated to. such a position that theplate: 25 is'free to seat itself properly. If the train line containssteam thevalve plate is maintained in its seated position by the steampressure within the chamber 16. Initial swinging movement of'thcoperating lever 65 in a clockwise direction from'theposition shown inFig. 2 'willcause the free end of the crank arm 54 to move upwardly.from the position which it assumes in Fig. 2 to the position shown inFig. 3 and will exert a pulling efiect on the free end of the elongatedyoke member 44 and cause the same to swing in a clockwise directionabout the axis of the pivot pin 45. During this initial movement of theyoke member 44, the bleed valve assembly will become open by virtue ofthe lifting action of the lifting fingers 75 as previously described andduring such opening movement the main valve 25 will not be moved fromits seated position since the pin 42 carried by the yoke member 44 willsimply move upwardly within the larger slot or opening 41 provided inthe pillar 40 of the valve plate 25. The volume of steam thus bledthrough the port 26 provided in the valve plate may be regulated to someextent by regulating the threaded extent of the valve element 30 on thereduced stem 31 to attain earlier or later valve movement as the casemaybe. In the 'form of the valve illustrated herein, an initial movementof the operating lever 65 throughout. an angle of approximately 20willserve to open the bleeder valve without creating any movement of themain valve plate 25. The lever may be left in this position and thefriction of the valve.

operating connections will ordinarily be suflicient to hold the bleedervalve open.

After the bleeder valve assembly has been opened as just described,continued downward movement of the' operating lever 65 and consequentupward swinging movement of the yoke member 44 will cause'the retainingpin 42 to engage; the upper end. of the slot 41' and vantage of theapplied leverage on the plate through the linkage mechanism, as well asby the partial equalization of fluid pressure on the opposite sides ofthe plate which takes place due to the bleeding action of the bleedervalve mechanism.

The leverage action just referred to is geometrically portrayed in Fig.7 which should be considered in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 1the axis of swinging movement of the operating lever 65 is designated bythe broken line a-a. The shiftable axes bb and cc represent the axes ofthe retaining pins 51 and 53 respectively. The dotted circle d in Fig. 7represents the cross sectional outline of the rock shaft 55 at onepivoted end thereof. These designations a-a, bb and cc have beenmaintained in Fig. 7 to illustrate the horizontal distances existingbetween the various pivotal axes. Despite the fact that the crank arm 54which projects radially outwardly from the ofiset portion 66 of the rockshaft 55 has a linear extent x, the effective lifting action on the yoke44 as applied by manipulation of the handle 65 is the result of amechanical advantage which may be represented by the expression l/ywhere Z is the length of the handle 65 and y is the difference betweenthe length x of the crank arm 54 and the length 1 which is the extent ofoflset of the portion 66 of the shaft 55, it will be observed that inthe absence of any offset portion and, considering only a straightoperating shaft extending through the casing 11, the displacement of thepivot point 53 from the turning axis a-a of the shaft is so slight thatit would be impracticable to devise a suitable lug or other attachmentpoint for the link 52 due to its close proximity to the axis a-a.Furthermore, since the auxiliary bleeder valve instrumentalities arecentered with respect to the main circular valve plate 22, the offsetportion 66 of the shaft 55 provides a clearance for these valveinstrumentalities so that they may function properly Withoutinterference by the rock shaft. As will be set forth presently, theoffset portion 66 of the shaft has a third function in the operation ofthe valve structure wherein, after initial opening of the main valve 22has taken place, continued turning movement of the rock shaft 66 causesthe main valve 22 to be rapidly carried away from its seat to fully openthe valve with a minimum amount of turning movement of the shaft beingrequired to elfect such full opening.

Referring now to Fig. 3 in conjunction with Fig. 7, it will be seen thatafter the valve has been broken from its seat under the influence of thepowerful leverage exerted by the crank arm 54, the links and 52 assumeprogressively greater inclinations with respect to each other and thepivot pin 53 is pulled upwardly and toward the right so as to continueto pull the free end of the yoke 44 upwardly and gradually increase theextent of opening movement of the valve plate 22. When the operatinglever 65 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4, the upper side of theoffset portion 66 will come into contact with the underneath side of thelink 52 whereupon this link and the rock shaft will turn as a unit sothat the lifting force is applied directly to the upper end of the lowerlink 50 and the free end of the yoke 44 is rapidly pulled upwardly tomove the valve plate 22 to its open position shown in Fig. 5. At sometime in between the position of the valve parts shown in Fig. 3 and theposition shown in Fig. 5, a laterally projecting lug 80 formed near theforward end of the yoke td will engage one side of the link 50 so thatthe yoke and link go solid so to speak and prevent collapsing of thelink 50 upon the yoke. tween the yoke 44 and link 54? which limits thefurther collapsing movement of these two parts still further shortensthe arcuate distance through which it is necessary to move the operatinghandle to effect complete opening of the valve 22.

This ositive enga ement be- The provision of the lug or abutment has anadditional function in that itmairttains the link 50 extended from theyoke 44 in a pre determined distance so that the upper link 52 isbrought into engagement with the spring-pressed locking pin 72 and thelatter pin is caused to move into register with the depression 71 at theprecise time when the valve plate 22 attains its fully open position. Inthis regard it is to be noted that since the lower end of the lockingpin or detent 72 is rounded, it will be engaged by the apex of the link52 and will ride inwardly on the surface 7%) until such time as it movesinto register with the depression 71.

The valve may be closed by imparting a counter clockwise rotation to therock shaft 55 through the medium of the operating lever 65, the detent72 yielding to prevent the link 52 to move out of contact therewith.Thereafter the various parts will move by virtue of their own weight andthe unbalanced forces associated therewith to the closed position,assisted possibly by the pressure of steam progressively built up in thechamber 16 as the valve plate 22 approaches its closed position.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specificationsince various changes in the details of construction may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Only insofar as theinvention has been particularly pointed out in the accompanying claimsis the same to be limited.

We claim:

1. An end valve structure for a railway car steam train line, saidstructure comprising a casing defining a valve chamber and inlet andoutlet ports communicating therewith, a main valve positioned in saidcasing to open and close said outlet port, and power multiplyingoperating means for opening said main valve comprising a valve leverpivoted at one end to the casing and at an intermediate position to saidmain valve, a rock shaft mounted in said casing above the valve tooscillate about an axis extending transversely of said lever and isformed with a portion which is radially offset in one direction relativeto the oscillatory axis of the rock shaft, a crank arm formed on saidoffset portion with its free end extending radially therefrom to aposition slightly beyond the said axis of the rock shaft, means foroperatively connecting the rock shaft to the free end of said valvelever comprising a pair of pivotally connected links, one of which isconnected to the free end of said valve lever and the other of whichextends into the space defined by said olfset portion of the rock shaftand is pivotally attached to the free end of said crank arm.

2. An end valve structure according to claim 1 characterized in that theconnection of the crank arm with one of said links is at a locationslightly spaced from said axis of the rock shaft, whereby the effectivelength of the crank arm is relatively short.

3. An end valve structure as defined in claim 1 characterized in thatsaid main valve is provided with a bleeder port therethrough, a bleedervalve for closing the bleeder port is slidably mounted on the mainvalve, and in that main valve lever has a lost motion connection withsaid bleeder valve and the main valve, whereby said bleeder valve isopened prior to the opening of said main valve.

4. An end valve structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said lost motionconnection between the main valve and said main valve lever is offsetrelative to the vertical center of the main valve.

5. An end valve structure according to claim 4 characterized in that theoffset connection between the main valve and its operating lever islocated intermediate the center of the main valve and the pivotal axisof its operating lever.

6. An end valve structure as defined in claim 1 characterized in thatthe offset portion of the rock shaft,

during a portion of its movement, abutsagainst a portion t of'the linkWhic 'his Connected to the crank arm, whereby this'linkand the rookshaft are held against angular 7. An end valve structure as defined'inclaim 6 charaeterized in that means are provided for limiting thepivotal'arcuate'movement of the link which connects with 10 1,474,790Russell Nov. 20, 1923 Russell Oct. 7, 1930 the-main valve operatinglever.

5 position to engage saidconnecting link;

8. An end valve structure according to claim 7 characterized in thatsaid means for limiting thearcuate movement of the link connected withthe main valve operating lever is a lug formed on sadi main operatinglever in a References Citedin the file of'this patent i UNITEDSTATES-PATENTS 7

